Saturday, June 8th 2012, a beautiful sunny day….one of the few we’ve had so far…….a great day to go for a walk with the grandkids and the dog. Happily playing on the swings in front of Roy Wilcox School with Tayo, the dog, running around everyone, not a care in the world.

Suddenly, Tayo hears a dog bark from behind a fence across the street. He takes off to investigate, galloping across the road. Of course, we start calling him back immediately and he obeys, galloping happily back towards us. Out of nowhere comes a dark blue car, speeding, and obviously not watching the road, smashes into Tayo and sends him flying 6 feet or more, landing in the ditch at the side of the road! I know, I know, some are saying that Tayo shouldn’t have been off his leash, HOWEVER, the road there is quite wide. There is a crosswalk just before the area Tayo ran across the road. When driving, we are supposed to watch out for children etc who might be nearby. Obviously, this person did not watch or he/she would have been able to slow down at least. There was quite a ‘thud’ as our 70lb Tayo hit the car! There is no way it could have been missed. This sad example of a human being didn’t even stop to see what had happened. The driver did leave behind the plastic cover from a light on the front right side of the vehicle and probably has a dent on the front somewhere.

I doubt if we will ever find out who this coward is. Tayo survived amazingly. He had 2 fractures in the right side of his pelvis. Dr. Thwaites operated and he is healing well. We don’t know if he’ll ever be able to run and play as he used to, but he’s young and may, in time, be able to. Many thanks to Catherine from the Humane Society who was there in minutes to see if she could help. The police arrived and took details but we’re not holding out much hope there as it happened so fast we did not get a license plate number. We want to thank Dr. Thwaites too for cutting short a visit in Terrace to get back to Kitimat to take xrays of the damage and see what needed to be done.

It was a traumatic accident for all of us to witness, 4 young children and two adults. Tayo is a well-loved family pet and we are thankful he is still with us. The worst of it is, Tayo could easily have been a CHILD on their bike or a little one running across the road! PLEASE SLOW DOWN PEOPLE – especially now summer holidays are here and children are roaming around more frequently during the day. Also, have the guts to own up to your mistakes! Maybe this person panicked? Maybe they’d been drinking? Maybe they didn’t have a license? Who knows? Maybe we’ll never find out……..Maybe if you’re reading this you could send a cheque to help with the vet bill?

Comment by Fellow Dog Walker on 23rd July 2012I think you don't realize how vicious your statments are to a long standing family going thru such a sad and emotional time. This always happy and friendly dog probably has a long and painful recovery and I am very hopeful that he even makes it after going thru all this to save his life and quality of life. We live in a "small town". Cars stop at crosswalks even if people are a few feet away, its a "small town" thing to do and has always been this way. Over half the town has no sidewalks and the roads are shared with pedestrians. There is no "I'm in a car and the road is mine no matter what" attitude here, its not Vancouver or Toronto. Let's be honest everyone lets their dogs off a leash now and again, we know its not right but the joy it brings to a dog is indescribable, its what we do in a "small town". To have a car come like a "bat out of hell" down a road is dangereous to humans and ALL animals. By not stopping after such a tragedy is unheard of no matter who is at fault, its a definate "hit and run" to me. The people with a negative attitude in a "small town" use your eneregy to set up a "Dog Park" somewhere in all the greenery kept up by the District that is never ever used by anyone ever. Speedy recovery little Tayo.

We DID take responsibility

Comment by Bill Vollrath on 17th July 2012Rory! NO! A little kid might have run across the road just as easily as a dog. Drivers MUST watch where they are going and be prepared to stop on city streets. Dang, I said I wasn't going to argue...but man...I can't stand the accusation of being irresponsible. We are not.

OK

Comment by Rory Brown on 16th July 2012I post the previous before yours was posted. No further comment.

Take responsibility

Comment by Rory Brown on 16th July 2012Once again your putting it all on the driver of the car. If a child was at the crosswalk they would have waited for the car to stop and than crossed. I bet you dog didn't do that. You say the driver was speeding. Did you have a calabrated radar gun? What it comes down to is your dog is your responsibility. It was not on a leash causing damage to some body's car, not to mention your dog being hurt, and your children having to see it all happen. This is not the drivers fault. He/she was driving on the road, where cars are meant to be, not un-leashed dogs.

To responsible pet owner, "Gimme a break!"

Comment by Bill Vollrath on 15th July 2012Give me a break! We know we are responsible for what happened...but to not stop when you've hit a dog with 4 children watching is simply unacceptale behaviour. So we were responsible...we know that...You don't need to rub it in my wife's face. I gotta tell ya, you sound like a real heartless prick to me...I can't speak for anyone else. Do you never let your dog play with the kids at the playground? OK, you probably don't...So what? You're a better person or something? I'm not going to come back here to argue with you...You can rant on more if you want...afterall, you're right...but like I said...Gimme a break!

Clarification

Comment by Pam & Bill Vollrath on 15th July 2012To 'responsible dog owner' - For your information, we do pick up after our dog, unlike many others out there! We know the bylaws, as it stated in our letter. Our complaint was not as much about the accident, although that was quite traumatic to watch, as it was about the lack of responsibility taken by the person who hit our dog. As we said in the letter, this could easily have been a child. Would they have simply driven off then? Witnesses can attest this person was speeding and obviously wasn't paying attention for whatever reason. As we said in the letter, there is a crosswalk just before where Tayo ran across the road. Any 'responsible' driver would have had his/her eyes peeled watching for anything coming onto the road at that point in particular! We accept total responsibility for the fact that our dog was off his leash, but we would expect the driver to at least stop to see what had happened. Wouldn't you, 'responsible pet owner', if you had hit something when driving your car?

Resbonsible........not

Comment by Rory Brown on 9th July 2012I sorry to hear that your dog was hit by a car. I too have had that happen to me years ago, and the driver of the truck did stop. Fortunately for me, there was no damage to his truck, or I would have had to pay for it. My dog, like yours was not on a leash, so before you ask the "Coward" to come foward, keep in mind that you may be responsibe for the damages to thier car. I hope that all pet owners learn from this, and keep their pets on a leash.

Your just as much to blame

Comment by responsible dog owner on 4th July 2012Your right , your dog should have been on a leash . It is a bylaw and like all laws are not there for you to pick and choose which you shall obey and not obey. So like it or not you are to blame for your dogs demise. I also hope you cleaned up after your dog or did you choose not to obey that bylaw either? You choose to insinuate that the driver was speeding, or drunk or with out license ect ....where as the only fact you have is you CHOSE not to protect the dog by putting it on a leash. What if the driver swerved to miss your dog and hit a pedestrian or another vehicle. What about if they stopped and then helped , with crying kids and a angry dog owner, would you still be blaming them? A very sad thing for a dog to go through and could have been prevented by a responsible owner. People need to learn to take responsability for their own actions. This includes people walking dogs within town limits where the bylaws exsist , Protect your dogs and clean up after them.I do sincerly hope your dog recovers completely and that you as a dog owner have learned a lesson .